If I purchase a license today for 12 months but once the twelve months are up I am unable to purchase another 12 month license due to financial issues, will I still be able to run the original application and load the files etc?

you can always read and edit the files BUT:
when you have a indie file(.hiplc) houdini will open the file in non-commercial Mode. so you can view it or even edit but it will be always a .hipnc on the end. inclusive all the limitations

the restirctions will be as shown in this list:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=219&Itemid=382 [sidefx.com]

Thanks for replying, mostly what I thought but wanted to confirm. I've noticed that the video tutorials are being run on Macs rather than PC's. Does Houdini run well on Macs then, is there a specific version that runs best. I'm still a fan of Snow Leopard as its simply rock solid!

what i have heard that the best plattform is linux. less memory usage and faster. i'm on windows 7 and it works stable….

on mac i don't know can't help you there….

Haha I'm surprised at that, which distro? I'll have a look around the website for more info.

jt_uk
Thanks for replying, mostly what I thought but wanted to confirm. I've noticed that the video tutorials are being run on Macs rather than PC's. Does Houdini run well on Macs then, is there a specific version that runs best. I'm still a fan of Snow Leopard as its simply rock solid!

Snow Leopard would be too old since OpenGL 3 requires Mountain Lion or later. Mavericks and Yosemite are working fine in my experience.